Category: fabric shops

Oh boy, what a show! This was my first vist to a London show, I don’t usually travel this far, the NEC in Birmingham being my usual haunt. So what puts me off going to London? Train travel and costs for the most part, then there’s going round a very large city on my own that I don’t know – at all. And that makes me nervous and just a little scared! I was offered tickets to this show by Gerda from Three Eight Cake who was unable to go due to health reasons.

I managed to overcome the train ticket cost by buying well in advance and only paid £14 for a return trip to London – that’s a miracle in my book! My second problem was also easily solved – I asked Daughter No 1 if she’d like to come with me. As she’s working in London, and is much braver than me, she was the perfect person to ask!

King’s Cross Station, basking in the Autumn sunshine.

We had a fabulous time! Travelling from Marylebone to Alexandra Palace was actually fairly simple, and I loved the free shuttle bus from the station right up to the front door of the show, no need to climb that long hill! The entrance foyer was full of a display of Edward’s Menagerie little crocheted animals from Toft. Man they were cute!!

I’m so tempted to get the books and make all these, but – TIME!

As the place was so huge and there was so much to see, we prioritised by doing the fabric shopping first. There were a few stands I really wanted to see, those who I’ve never seen at the NEC. Starting at the end of the hall, we decided to move methodically up and down the aisles until we’d covered everything. Of course, there are still stalls we didn’t see/find! But typically, I only realised I’d missed them after we’d left. I was going to look at everything make a note of what I liked, and then go back to buy, just what I do at the NEC. It didn’t work!

It was very busy, very crowded and pretty hot and stuffy! So I decided I’d just get what I liked there and then, which turned out to be the best plan. First purchase of the day was from Rosenberg and Sons, as it always is! They had two stands, one with their winter wools and coating fabrics and the other with everything else. They have some amazing Italian wools and silks this year, they are just stunning, and for the price, really good value. I was good though, and just bought two pieces of navy jersey to make a couple of long sleeved tees. I’d noticed there is a lot of grey in my winter wardrobe, so more blue is a good thing. Also, look a that texture on the plain blue piece, isn’t that fab?

Navy jerseys from Rosenberg and Sons

Next I found the perfect rust coloured corduroy at Bombay Stores, for just £4/m! So I got three metres. Daughter No 1 loved another piece of cord, a delicious grey with a hint of green for a pair of trousers, so 2m of that went into the bag! It’s a lovely fabric, soft and pliable with the most amazing depth of colour.

Cord from Bombay Stores

One of the shops I wanted to see was Stoff & Stil. They’re based in Scandinavia and sell what looks like fabulous activewear fabric, so I was keen to see what they had, not wanting to trust that I’m buying the right thing online. But they didn’t have anything like that. It was a very good looking stand, full of pre-cut and packed lengths of jersey, French Terry and bag notions and patterns. And although it loooked good, it was a pain in the whatsit to negotiate! In the end I just got some fab coloured cotton yarn to make more cloths with, they were £1 each and I got 6. Slightly disappointed that they didn’t have what I needed, but they were certainly busy and the stand was packed!

Cotton yarn from Stoff & Stil

Higgs and Higgs were the next place we bought from. They have such lovely offerings and their jerseys are to die for if you’re making for young kids. I was really tempted to buy some of the cable jersey knit ponte, but seriously couldn’t pick a colour. Right next to the ponte was a selection of coloured twill (denim). Daughter No1 pulled out a bolt of pale grey/oyster that is quite soft and drapey for a twill and decided she’d love a pair of culottes or high waisted, pleated and wide legged trousers. She then convinced me that I needed green jeans/trousers in my life. So we bought a couple of metres of the coloured twill.

Coloured twill from Higgs & Higgs

Then it was Montreux Fabric’s turn. I was hoping they’d have more of the blue and ecru striped jersey I’d bought from them earlier in the year. I made a Uvita Top with it and I love it! I was in luck and snapped up more of that, and bought 2m of pale grey ribbed jersey to make something for Daughter No1 as well.

Jersey from Montreux Fabrics

A couple of Christmas presents were also purchased, but I won’t go into that right now. And we were recognised! We were browsing the Draper’s Daughter’s stand when one of the ladies said, “I know you! And you!” For a second my mind went into a slight panic – I had no idea who this lady was, I’m notoriously bad with names and I couldn’t for the life of me think of where I’d met her and how I’d know her! Then she added, “from IG, and your blog”. OMG, thank goodness I wasn’t about to put my foot in it and say I didn’t know who she was! Unfortunately she didn’t say who she was and it was only afterwards in discussion over tea and cake that I realised! Jane, from Jane Makes!

My only non-making purchase of the day!

We came across a stand in the craft hall while looking for Beyond Measure and Trend Patterns (who I didn’t find in the end, unfortunately). A large beaded dog caught our attention and we were immediately sidetracked from the fabric buying mission by looking at beaded flamingoes, sheep, goats, etc, etc. The stand was Best of African and the lady, Tracey was selling handmade animals and other items that had been made in Johannesburg by individual artists. We have a few beaded wire items at home, everytime we go back to SA I buy more! This time I bought (after a long chat) two gorgeous bowls in gold, white and black. I love the simplicity of the design and the colours that echo traditional African colours and those of the Zulu basketry. I’m going to put them on the windowcill in my sewing room with cactuses in them.

We had a fabulous day and would probably have stayed longer and gone through more halls and seen more stands if it hadn’t been so stuffy and warm. The only thing that I really didn’t like about the day was the number of stands happily offering to pack our fabric purchases into plastic carrier bags. Only two stalls, Montreux Fabrics & Best of African offered us a paper bag for our purchases. Come on guys, this isn’t good enough! Luckily I’d taken a nice sturdy felt bag with good handles to put my fabrics into. In the end we decided we’d done very well and it was time for a proper cup of tea and a bite to eat before heading out of London on our respective trains.

I am very thankful to Gerda for making the trip possible and I hope she’s getting better! Most of the fabric has been through the washing machine and is trying to dry on this wet and windy Friday. I’ll wait to tomorrow to get the corduroy in the wash, there’s no rush! Now I need to find patterns to match with my new fabric and get it made before the next sewing show – no stashbuilding here!

T-shirts, the backbone of most wardrobes. I’ve run up another few for my Autumn wardrobe. I had a couple of pieces of fabric from Closs & Hamblin in Winchester, I’d bought them at the beginning of August and didn’t want them to end up in the stash. I also had some bits in the stash, let’s be honest! Some are small bits that would have to be combined in some way, but one was big enough to fly solo.

Uvita Top fromItch to Stitch

So when you have tees to make, what pattern do you use? I decided to use the Uvita Top from Itch to Stitch for a couple of 3/4 length sleeve tops. I had bought a metre and a bit of grey marl viscose jersey from the Winchester fabric shop, and this was the first piece to get the chop! It’s lovely and soft and has a beautiful drape. I like the Uvita, it’s quick to make and I like how it feels on.

The second Uvita is made using a different kind of jersey. I had some polyester ponte that I’d bought last year from Fabworks and used a bit to make a Sewaholic Fraser for Daughter no 2. I couldn’t decide what to do with the rest of it at the time, so into the stash it went. Now it’s the right time to get it made up. It’s interesting to see how different the tops are in the different fabric, I like it!

The ponte has way less drape and stretch than the viscose jersey, it feels more fitted than the others. I like the pattern, from a distance it almost looks like a grey marl, it has great visual texture. Because I was worried that the fabric would irritate my skin, I didn’t cut the neckband from the same stuff. I used a bit of plain black ponte left over from another project.

I know it’s probably a bit late to be making short sleeved tees now at the end of August, but in my defense, I had intended to make this immediately after I bought the fabric at the beginning of the month. Anyway, a white tee can’t go that wrong, can it? For this I used the Lark V-neck tee.

The fabric is a cotton jersey, so no drape and it’s quite crisp. I should probably have picked a straighter tee, the Birgitte from Maria Denmark would probably have worked better. This does tend to stand away from me when I wear it! But I’ve only worn it once, and it has time to soften… I’m really chuffed with the neckband, the instructions are the best for getting a sharp point.

If you’re looking for some snuggly fabrics for Winter or Autumn tees/sweaters, Closs and Hamblin have really nice anti-pill polar fleece at good prices. I may just have bought persuaded the other half (when in Winchester on a business meeting) to buy me a couple of metres to make more Toaster Sweaters for the girls…

On Friday I met up with a couple of sewing mad friends at the NEC in Birmingham for some much needed retail therapy and stash rebuilding! I’ve used so much stash without buying much at all that I’m really down to small pieces, or pieces that aren’t “me”. Time to fix that!

Apart from lots of fabric suppliers there was a lovely exhibition of kimonos. The details and embroidery were exquisite. It was really hard to obey the “do not touch” posted on the walls everywhere!

I was pretty good with my purchases, not just buying metres and metres. I couldn’t, prices have gone up!! From Rosenberg and Son, I bought a black and white linen and cotton blend to make some summer trousers, grey Swiss dot cotton for a Japanese inspired top, and two floral print cotton and viscose blends, also fitted tops. I love the large print of the navy and white, its quite dramatic for me!

Fabrics Galore was where I got these beauties, black and white stripe viscose jersey for a tee (either a Lark or Birgitte) grey and black stripe ponte for a cardigan or sweater, grey and pale blue cotton for a top, black and white gingham for a top and that beautiful turquoise washed linen for cropped trousers. I love that colour!

The embroidery on this wedding kimono was something else!

Navy and ecru stripe modal jersey for a tee or two from Montreux Fabrics and sand washed linen from Bombay Fabric for more trousers!

I got some practical stuff too, stocking up on overlocker thread in white and black.

I also visited my favourite lady, Gill Arnold to stock up on her fabulous interfacing and more shoulder pads for all those coats and jackets I’m supposed to be making!

Last, but not least, of the fabric buying. Two gorgeous handprinted Indian cottons from Maven Patterns. The grey and white will be a top and the mustard and cream will line my navy Tosti! I must get that pattern traced now, the Merchant and Mills oilskin had been waiting in the stash since September last year.

So now that all needs to be washed and suitable patterns sourced. I think my summer wardrobe has made itself known!

Three weeks in South Africa, all over now until the next time. I just hope it’s not another 5 years! Now fabric shopping on holiday sounds like a fabulous thing to do, buy up all those pretty things you can’t get at home and grab those things that are cheaper elsewhere because of a decent exchange rate. I really wanted to go with a fairly empty suitcase, to take full advantage of my situation, but I’d made so many lovely things for my Sew Seasonal Wardrobe that were begging to be allowed into the suitcase that I ended up with just 3 kg to spare! Oops.

No matter, some stuff taken was to be distributed, so I thought I’d do my bit to help the local economy. Now I must add that Mr Not-Compulsive tried very hard not to let me within 5km of a fabric store, but in the end he relented. I was directed to a store/factory shop in Roodeport called Chamdor. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a large fabric store! It was a warehouse! Thankfully half was soft-furnishing fabric and half the dressmaking fabric was stuff I wasn’t interested in. There was a lot of fleece (going into winter), lycra and poly-blends.

Trims of all descriptions and so many zips!The central aisle has end to end cutting tables, lined with anything you could want for your sewing project. Fabric stores with shopping trolleys – yes please!!

I saw a girl who was guarding a couple of rolls of border printed viscose & after asking nicely where she’d found them, proceeded to empty the shelves! There were so many lovely colours and patterns, it was going to be a struggle to decide which couldn’t be left behind. The price was R56/m, which I worked out to being about £2.25/m. Man – how could I leave anything behind at that price!?!?

The viscose I couldn’t leave benhid, I bought 3m of each, just to make sure I had enough!

Then I found the button stands and the trim and the zips and the threads and sewing machine accessories…. £55 later I emerged triumphant, two bags in my hands and a husband who kept saying, “I don’t know where you’re going to put all this.”

The Three cats logo of Da Gama Textiles Shweshwe

And then I was good, oh so good. I avoided all other fabric temptations until we got to the Eastern Cape. Da Gama Textiles is based in that province and they are the sole manufacturer of authentic Shweshwe fabric. I was going to have some to bring home, come hell or high water. The factory shop is located outside of East London and boy was there a lot to choose from! Original indigo sat side by side with teal and turquoise, greens, reds, pinks, oranges and browns. This was going to be harder than I thought!

In the end I bought a deep turquoise piece for a dress for Daughter No2, an orange circle print for Del and a striking red design that reminds me of Mid-Century Modern prints for a friend in Chicago.

Shweshwe fabric from Da Gama TextilesThis gorgeous blue will be a dress of some sort for daughter no 2

Now some of you know exactly what I have here, and others wondering what on earth Shweshwe is. I could go into a huge explanation, but there are many sites you can find the information on, Meerkat Shweshwe sell many different ranges online and have a history of the origins of the cloth, Da Gama obviously have their background in the industry, and African Fabric have good information, as well as a huge range of coloured and original indigo Shweshwe for sale online.

The 3 cats on the reverse of all authentic shweshwe. Beware of copies!

While we were at Da Gama Textiles, we did a bit of bin diving. Da Gama print more than just Shweshwe. There are big fabric bins in the factory shop full of test prints, seconds etc that you buy by the kilogram. We had a little hunt for different pieces of mostly soft furnishing fabrics, and came out with a good selection of bits and pieces that I’ll use to make cushion covers, table runners and other goodies for the summer table outside. And that was it! Once we’d distributed all the gifts we’d taken to all our friends and family, there was plenty of room for the fabric purchases. And 40 vintage patterns….

And now we come to the crunch. I really don’t need to buy any more fabric this year. No, seriously, I don’t. So I made a pledge, and told Mr Not-Compulsive, so I have to stick with it.

Well, not no sewing at all, but I haven’t got much to report right now as I have no photos! I have a blue viscose tee and blue and white herringbone Burda trousers and a new pair of gorgeous Birkin Flares. But nowhere to be seen. What I can show you though, is fabric shopping….

My favourite annual fabric shopping opportunity happened this week, Sewing for Pleasure at the NEC. I always go on the Thursday, the first day. You get the best picks first thing on day one! I went prepared, a wad of cash in my wallet that was all I was allowed to spend and two large carrier bags in which to stuff my purchases. I was meeting with an ex-student whom I hadn’t seen in about 2 years, so it was going to be a good day! We had a fabulous time catching up and buying pretty things.

I started at Rosenberg & Son – the only place to start. As usual there was a crowd 3 people deep all trying to get access to the front to feel and grab precious bolts of fabrics. Some people have sharp elbows… Anyway, once I finally reached my destination I bought 2.5m of floral printed twill for a friend (who’s making a dress), 1.2m of blue and white geometric print John Kaldor viscose jersey and and 2.5m of the prettiest green and blue parasol print poplin. My plans for the jersey is to turn it into a tee of some sort – no idea which pattern just yet. The parasol print will be the trousers from the pantsuit in the plus size section of the April issue of Burdastyle magazine. It’s going to look good on the beach next month!!

From there I found Doughty’s. All 2-3 stalls. Why so many? Anyways, one of their stalls had a majority of quilting cottons, the others had a mixture of good fabrics, including a decent selection of ex-designer fabrics like Paul Smith. I bought a metre of pretty navy and white seaside print cotton to make baby things for a friend’s soon to be born little girl. February’s issue of Burdastyle has some really cute patterns for baby clothes.

Seaside print cotton from Doughty’s Fabrics

They always have lots of lovely fabrics, this time I managed to buy from two of the stalls. On 2 different trips I bought 2 metres of washed linen in grey and white (looks like a cotton & linen blend) and 1.2m of black and white stripe viscose jersey. I have a pretty good idea the linen will become a pair of floppy trousers, although a friend suggested an unlined jacket, and the jersey is destined to be a tee. Again, pattern undecided.

Linen & viscose jersey from Doughty’s

Montreux Fabrics

I found a new fabric store at the show this time, Montreux Fabrics. They haven’t got their website up and running just yet but they did have plenty of gorgeous fabrics! I particularly enjoyed rummaging through the “remnant” baskets. Their selection of jersey fabrics was really good. I ended up only buying 2 pieces, 1.8m of plain blue viscose jersey, again it’ll be a tee of some sort, and 1.4m of white viscose jersey that’s destined for Del.

Beautiful blue jersey from Montreux fabrics

Just when I thought I’d done all my buying, daughter No2 turned up! My friend wanted to go back to Rosenberg’s so we tagged along. Bad decision! Or maybe not. Two more pieces of fabric were added to my bags! Daughter no 2 liked a piece of Liberty lawn for a vintage blouse and then fell for a large floral print stretch cotton for another blouse. I will wait for her to come home for the Easter hols to pick the exact patterns she wants.

Cotton prints from Rosenberg & Son

I killed a little time at the Bernina stand, I still wouldn’t swap either of my old machines for one of them. The overlockers look even more involved than mine! I looked at the coverstitch though, it has three needles and costs a mere £599. To sew hems…. Twin needles are much cheaper!

Overlockers at the Bernina stand

I browsed the patterns stands, picked up one Burda trouser patterns but on the whole I left the commercial patterns alone.

I got tempted by the new Sewaholic Vancouver range of patterns on their release earlier this year and bought two patterns in the 2 for 1 launch special. I liked the Fraser sweatshirt to make for myself and the girls, and I got the Cypress running cape, definitely only for making for the girls!

On a recent trip to Birmingham and The Fancy Silk Store, I bought a fabulous fleece lined jersey in charcoal. As Daughter No2 was with me at the time I got enough for both of us to have a Fraser sweatshirt. She didn’t want any of the fancy stitchlines, just a plain one please, with looong sleeves. She has rather long arms and battles to find bought tops that stay anywhere near her wrist. Everything ends up looking like it should be 3/4.

The fabric doesn’t have much stretch, it’s pretty sturdy, so I hope it fits…. I made an adjustment to the shoulder width (1.5 cm wider) and lengthened the sleeve by 4cm. She won’t mind if it’s a little long but will be very disappointed if it’s short. I used View B for the front and back and added length according to the sleeve for View A, but used B… Make sense? I started with the size 4 on the top part and graded to a 2 at the waist and hip. Funnily enough, in Burda (and almost everything else) patterns she’s one or two sizes bigger in the hip than the waist, but with Sewholic we need to go down by 1 size.

Sewaholic Fraser sweatshirt, View B with long sleeves

The pattern itself is pretty easy, especially if you’re doing View B! Basically, think Renfrew in a sturdier fabric. The construction is the same. The only thing I would change about the order of work would be attaching the cuffs to the sleeves. Because I sent down to size 2 on the sleeve (skinny arms) it was nigh on impossible to get the cuff on after the side seams had been sewn. Next time I’ll attach the sleeve cuffs and then sew the sleeve and side seams, turning up the cuff and just attaching with the sewing machine. Although I still won’t be able to get the ends over the free arm. But overlocking it was damn tricky!

I hope that when she comes home after her hockey tour in the Easter hols that she’s happy with it. She’s seen some photos but it still needs to be tried on.

So, riding high on a quick easy make, I decided I’d make another. But not my version. I’d had a little splurge this weekend buying fabric online (I know, I’m supposed to be clearing the table of stashed fabrics) from Ditto Fabrics, Fabworks and Croft Mill Fabrics. Bad. I’m hopeless. Anyway, I wanted to be sure the fabrics all got used up as soon as they arrived, so on Tuesday the Fabworks delivery arrived (as well as the Ditto stuff, but that’s for later). I’d ordered linen, of course, and two pieces of jersey.

Sewaholic Fraser sweatshirt View A – details

The one I wanted for the sweatshirt is blue with circles and flowers, sort of reminds me of delft tiles, and I wanted to use it to make something for my Mum. I decided to go with View A, although I wasn’t going to use a contrast fabric. This time I didn’t need any pattern alterations, my Mum’s measurements put her firmly in the size 12.

Two new sweatshirts, one new favourite pattern.

Again, construction was simple and straightforward, the only part you need to watch is the triangle point insertion. It was done in an afternoon and I’m pretty happy with it, although on close inspection I know I missed centering the top front exactly, but I don’t think anyone looking casualy will notice, and no, I’m not unpicking it!!

So to round up the pattern stuff – Sewaholic have delivered a quick make with clear, concise instructions alongside plain talking illustrations. I can see a whole stack of these being made, and as you have such a plain canvas, whose to say there won’t be many hacks on the horizon for those so inclined? Already the Renfrew had been hacked into so many different things by enterprising sewists.

Fraser View A, pointy details.

Now, Fabworks. I’d spotted them on Instagram, someone I follow had bought something yummy, so I took a look. They have a good selection of fabrics, and lovely, interesting jersey fabrics. The prices are pretty good too. The ordering only lets you pick whole metres, which means for a tee shirt you’re either going to be short, or have too much. So I emailed them asking if I could have a custom order and they were very helpful. So if you like what you see there but don’t want 1 or 2 metres (or more, who’s counting) email them for a custom order. Postage is a flat £5, but it comes the next day!! So for impulsive shoppers, that’s not bad. So far I’m happy with the pieces I’ve ordered, I will see how the fabric behaves in the long term before I can judge the quality of their offerings, but on customer service they’re sitting pretty on my list of online shops.

I have only one purchase from Fabworks left, I made the linen up yesterday, so I need to get the last piece of jersey cut up and sewn today! I also need to allocate patterns to the jerseys I got from Croft Mill and Ditto. I promised myself that if I bought all of it, I’d use it up within 2 weeks – nothing to stash. This might just be a promise I can keep…

This year is going to be a different one for sewing. If you haven’t already noticed, things are going much slower. By this time last year I’d completed 22 projects, this year I’ve done 13 and am working on my 14th. It’s not as if I have less to make, or less fabric to play with. Just less time.
I have stuff I need to photograph, neither Camas Blouse have made it to the pages of the blog yet, despite them being completed late January, early February! Here’s a glimpse.

Marking the seamlines on the reverse of the sequined shoulder yokes.

The completed sequined shoulder.A sneaky selfie in the back of the florists, the first outing for my Camas Blouse

I decided this year to get my act into gear regarding trousers too, the styles in the Burda magazines aren’t floating my boat and there really is a limit as to how many times you can remake a pattern, no matter how you think they look so different in different fabrics. So I’ve managed to get a new pair of self drafted trousers up and running too. I stole a couple of different styling ideas from different patterns I like, like pocket shapes and cuffs. I’m pretty happy with the first pair, I think the proof will be in the wearing though, so I’m holding off rushing to make a new pair before I’ve worn these a couple of times to identify areas of improvement.

Sketch of the intended pattern and a pile of taped together bits of paper forming the pattern pieces!Adjusting the style lines after the first toile.Almost there, fly zip, topstitched square shaped pockets.

My current project is a simple v-neck tee from a self drafted block. I’d needed to adjust the original block heavily, apparently Winnie Aldrich doesn’t really mean 0 ease when she says it for a tee block!! I think it’s sorted enough, so I’ve marked the fashion cut and created the style pattern I’m after. I need to toile it today, so fingers crossed.

Simple shaped tee, 3/4 sleeves and a wide v-neck band embellished with beads

The one thing about making garments with jersey is that each and every jersey behaves differently. I’ve even had different results from the same bamboo jersey in different colours!! Does the dying process have an effect?? Who knows. This time I’m using a pale grey viscose jersey I bought from Croft Mill Fabrics last year, it’s not one of those flowing jerseys, so hopefully it works well with the simple shape. I decided to lift it from being a boring grey tee I’d dig out a tube of silvery beads and embellish a bit. We’ll see if my hands behave enough for me to hold a beading needle long enough to get any beads attached!

Speaking of hands, I’ve been rushing to crochet enough granny squares to make a throw for daughter no2 before I have to stop. Holding a crochet hook is not easy at the moment, but I’ve managed fairly well so far. I crochet like mad when my hands behave and then have to leave if for days other times. I hope I get it all finished and put together before she heads off to University in September. I have a long way to go yet!

This was the last photo I took of the growing pile. I have another 18 to add to this.

Of course, just because I am not sewing much doesn’t mean I’m leaving the growing of the stash alone. I persuaded Daughter No1 to attend the Sewing for Pleasure at the NEC last week with me, on the promise that I’d buy the ticket, lunch and any fabric she required. Sucker. We got a good haul, she left with silk and wool tops for embellishing, wool felt and silk woven pieces to add texture to her latest project. Me? Well, I left with these, amongst other things…

Cotton poplin for a dress and 40s stye shorts for daughter no1Just one of the pieces of Linton tweed, this is a cotton weave, destined for an edgy, modern jacket for daughter no1Silk print onto cotton, the most amazing colours! I got 2 lots of 2 metres, neither for me!!You can never have too many books to assist with fitting issues. Everyone has a different opinion!

So that’s me for now. I have lots to sew and lots to crochet and lots to photograph! Daughter no1 will be home for the Easter Hols soon and I have lots of things I want to make for her before she goes back to University, so I’m going to have to hurry up just a little.